


Rocket Pops and Water Wings

by GoodyearTheShippyCat



Category: Starfighter (Comic), Starfighter Eclipse
Genre: Beach Holidays, Day At The Beach, Developing Relationship, Dirty Thoughts, Flirting, Fluff, Friendship, Games, Grinding, Helios is a Dork, Kissing, M/M, Play Fighting, Popsicles, Shore Leave, Summer, Sweet, Swimming, Using Appropriate Amounts of Sunscreen, Vacation, Wet Clothing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-06
Updated: 2019-07-06
Packaged: 2020-06-23 14:11:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,631
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19702972
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoodyearTheShippyCat/pseuds/GoodyearTheShippyCat
Summary: Invited on a beach vacation by Selene and Ethos, Helios and Deimos spend their shore leave learning to swim, soaking up some sun, and just generally having some relaxing time off from their Alliance duties.





	Rocket Pops and Water Wings

**Author's Note:**

> The final day of the Starfighter Summer Challenge is upon us and it’s finally Helimos day!!! I’ve written a fic which uses both today’s pairing prompt and the theme prompt of Beach/Summer Fun. 
> 
> It can be read completely standalone, although it’s technically set in the same universe as my very first fic [Not a One-Time Thing](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12220365), just a while after it. Though this is not written in the first person like that work. Maybe one day I’ll return to the languishing WIPs that are direct sequels to it, and fill out the universe some more…

Helios kicked his feet back and forth in short strokes beneath him, and tried to move his arms in the softly arcing motions that he’d watched Selene and Ethos demonstrate. _Treading water,_ he remembered they’d called it. The sensation of his limbs fighting against the ocean surrounding them was very strange.

There weren’t exactly a lot of chances to go swimming on Mars, especially if you grew up the way the majority of the colonist population did. This was the first time he’d ever tried it. When considering what to do during the period of shore leave they all had after their last mission, it had been one of the biggest draws of coming down to Earth for a beach vacation. When Selene had told him about the plans he’d made with Ethos, and suggested that he and Deimos join them, Helios had been skeptical. When he’d dreamed about visiting Earth before, it had always been of seeing the major cities; the incredible feats of architecture and preserved historic sites. Not visiting some tiny coastal town in a place he’d never heard of.

Now that he was here, he had to admit it _was_ really beautiful. He could see the appeal and was glad he’d come along.

Over the weeks leading up to docking at the Alliance Space Station to disembark, he’d had a chance to mull it over. Also, to work up the courage to ask Deimos what he was planning for his shore leave time. Whether he was visiting family back on Mars or anything. With Valentina still MIA and presumed dead, Helios really didn’t have any reason to return to the planet.

When Deimos had confirmed that he was just going to stay in quarters on the Station, too, that had pretty much made the decision.

“You’re doing great, Helios!” said Selene, swimming past him with such ease and grace that it looked like he belonged in the water just as much as on land. With the pale ends of his hair trailing through the waves behind him, swirling with the currents, he almost resembled some kind of mermaid or siren or other mythological water creature.

“Thanks,” he replied, focusing hard on doing both things at once plus talking, “I think I’m getting the hang of it!”

“You’ll be a fish by the end of the week, at this rate!”

He knew he wasn’t going to get that good any time soon, or even as good as Ethos, who could do backflips under the water. He would come back to the surface shaking his soaking wet curls from side to side like one of the dogs Helios had seen running along the beach earlier that day.

After lunch and a bit of relaxed wandering beside the shore, the two navigators had taken it upon themselves to get him and Deimos into the water for an introductory swimming lesson. There had been a lot of sea water up both their noses already.

 _I wonder why it’s so salty?_ Helios idly pondered, _Selene and Ethos probably know._

They’d been at it for well over an hour when Deimos, clearly frustrated by the entire exercise, had decided to take a break. Helios had asked if everything was okay, but Deimos had waved him off to continue with his lesson. By now he knew not to push when the other fighter wanted to be left alone. Giving him space had been key to them getting together in the first place, really.

Helios had actually been enjoying the swimming, though. He’d already graduated from the giant lifejacket he’d had on earlier to a pair of bright pink inflatable rings that went around his upper arms. Selene had called them ‘water wings’. He thought they were fun, and made him look extra swole.

 _Honestly, why doesn’t everyone want to wear these? Best beach accessory,_ he thought, smiling down at the cheery bicep enhancers.

He’d been putting on more muscle thanks to the rigorous physical regime the Federated Alliance insisted upon for their fighters, and the readily available food—even if it was kind of bland and strange in texture. He planned to keep up those gains even during shore leave. The resort complex they were staying in had a gym somewhere that he would definitely be checking out tomorrow.

From the water, Helios could see that Deimos had discarded his life jacket and put a t-shirt back on. He was wrapped in a towel, as well, sitting underneath the big beach umbrella they’d set up at for the afternoon.

The distance made it impossible to discern the tiny facial movements which distinguished Deimos’ emotions from the blank slate look he generally gave everyone. However, if he had to put money on it, Helios would bet that he was being sulky—or at the very least, pouty—as he watched the other three men still in the water. He decided that working on swimming some more could wait until tomorrow, and doggy-paddled his way back over to where his feet could touch the soft, silty bottom.

Feeling it squish between his toes had been another unexpected pleasure of the day. When he’d first waded tentatively into the shallows, he’d just stood there for a good couple of minutes. Marveling at the way the waves coming in and going back out again alternately sloshed wet currents of sand over his feet then pulled them away in a bizarre rushing sensation.

“Hey there, cutie,” he said, walking up to the congregation of towels and beach bags, “You come here often?”

Deimos raised a silently judgemental eyebrow at him. Helios just smiled and grabbed his towel, rubbing it vigorously all over himself to dry off. It made funny squeaking noises up against the water wings. The way Deimos fought a smile wasn’t lost on him, and he may have spent more time than _strictly_ necessary drying around them.

Laying the towel back on the ground next to the one Deimos sat on, Helios took up residence on it. He reached out a hand and traced it gently along the outside of the smaller man’s arm, which was wrapped around his knees.

“You cold?”

The extra towel pulled tight around him suggested as much, though he didn’t seem to be shivering. In reply, Deimos gave a noncommittal shrug.

“We could sit out in the sun, instead. It’s nice and warm.”

“Gonna burn,” said Deimos, so quietly Helios could barely hear him, pointing out from under the safety of the umbrella. 

He was right; even though they’d liberally applied sunscreen earlier, a pinkish hue had already shown up across Deimos’ nose and cheeks. Come to think of it, here in the shade Helios could feel the heat under his own skin. His pecs, shoulders, and the back of his neck felt like the sun was still shining down on them full force. Colonists were prone to burning here on Earth, unaccustomed to such an intensity of sunlight. Or the ability to go out in it without thermal layers from head to toe blocking the UV regardless.

“We should probably reapply sunscreen, huh?” said Helios, reaching over to the umbrella pole, beside which sat a bottle of the viscous white liquid.

He poured a small amount into one hand before passing it to Deimos and starting to smear it over his face, rubbing it in and trying not to miss any spots. They took turns with the bottle, making sure to get some on all of their exposed skin. Helios helped rub a white spot into Deimos’ jaw where it met his neck and hadn’t been properly distributed.

Then he was pleasantly surprised by Deimos crawling behind him to do his back. The other fighter forcibly shoved his water wings down to rub sunscreen into the bands of skin underneath, which he’d totally forgotten about.

“Ha ha! Careful, that tickles!”

Deimos’ dextrous little fingers were working their way around the inside of his arm where the skin was sensitive. Helios was having trouble holding back giggles. He simultaneously wanted to pull away and dive in closer to tackle his adorable assailant. He refrained from both, somehow, and just barely managed to wait out the unintended tickling.

“Did you want me to do yours, too?”

Deimos gave a quick nod and plunked himself down between Helios’ legs.

He picked up the bottle and squeezed a line of the stuff onto one palm, using the fingers of the other hand to scoop up blobs of it and deposit them around the lean muscle of Deimos’ back. Beginning to smooth the lotion evenly across the planes and around the curve of shoulder blades, Helios took his time, admiring the form in front of him as he did so. Feeling lucky that Deimos trusted him like this; to completely turn his back on him and relax.

He was still a bit shocked that the other man had agreed to come along on the trip at all.

When he’d finished getting the sunscreen applied to every last inch of pale, smooth skin, he tried his luck—leaning in to press a quick kiss to the nape of Deimos’ elegant neck.

“Okay, all done! You can put your shirt on again if you like.”

Instead, the smaller man leaned back against him, still shirtless. Helios wasn’t one to complain about that. He shifted slightly to better support both their weights, then grabbed the extra towel and draped it over Deimos’ front, in case he was still a little chilly in the afternoon breeze.

They sat and watched the waves. Helios made a bit of idle chatter here and there, not really expecting Deimos to reply, but enjoying involving him in his thoughts anyway.

“Have you come up with anything you want to try while we’re down here? Stuff we can’t do or get back on Mars?”

Deimos just shrugged and turned his head to rest the side of his face on Helios’ collarbone.

Helios couldn’t resist dipping his head to nuzzle into the other man’s hair a little. It was mostly dry now, but not as silky smooth as usual. The saltwater had given it an interesting texture, kind of like bedhead, but… fuller?

“I know I want to watch the sunset tonight. It’s supposed to be really different from here on Earth. Extra beautiful, especially over the water. And the sky is nice and clear right now.”

Deimos didn’t respond at all to that, so Helios tried adding one more thought.

“If you wanted to keep me company, I’d really like to watch it with you.”

Under the towel, one of Deimos’ hands found his and squeezed his fingers.

 _Right, okay. Sunsets are a yes_ , thought Helios, trying and failing to contain a stupid grin.

“Great, I can’t wait!”

Silence reigned between them again, until Ethos and Selene came ambling back along the sand, water droplets still glistening over both of them.

“Hey! How’s it going? What are you guys up to?” called Ethos, waving at them.

“Just enjoying the day,” replied Helios, looking over.

“Had enough of swimming?” asked Selene as he came over and grabbed the other two towels on the ground, shaking them out and passing one to the blond navigator beside him.

“Yeah, for now I think. It’s surprisingly exhausting being out where you can’t touch bottom, even with these on,” Helios waggled his arms, showing off the pink water wings which were now perched just above his elbows, “I never knew the ocean was so strong!”

“Oh! Well, umm, we could do plenty of other fun stuff in the shallower parts of the water. Like look for sea creatures over in the rocky spots, or…” Ethos paused, chin in his hand as he thought.

“We could chicken fight?” suggested Selene.

“We’re supposed to be on vacation from fighting!” Helios joked, but Deimos had perked up at the idea, so he asked, “How does it work?”

“It’s super simple,” explained Selene, “Teams of two, one person gets about chest-high in the water, the other rides on their shoulders. The objective is for the shoulder-riders of opposing teams to try and knock each other off, or tip the entire other team so they both end up in the water.”

Deimos was already on his feet and fetching his abandoned life jacket.

“I guess that’s a yes, then,” said Helios, amused.

The navigators waded in and when they were deep enough Selene hopped up on Ethos’ shoulders. Helios looked back at Deimos and stopped much shallower, crouching down in the water that was barely past his knees. Deimos gave him a shy almost-smile and climbed aboard, holding on tight. Helios made sure his grip on the other man’s legs was solid before he stood again and continued wading deeper. Luckily given their height difference, the water didn’t come up as far on him as on Ethos, so Deimos had even more distance between him and the waves.

“You guys ready?” asked the blond navigator.

On his shoulders, Selene looked like he’d been born ready. For the first time since they’d been paired together, Helios actually felt physically intimidated by his slender, ombre-haired partner. He didn’t feel quite as confident about their chances of winning now as he had when the game was explained back on dry land.

Deimos gave a thumbs up where Helios could see it, and they squared up.

“Okay, on the count of three… One, two, three!”

Helios braced his feet wide and offset, giving himself a chance to react to whatever way they ended up getting pushed. He smiled back at Ethos, who had a competitive grin on his face as they jostled around in the waves.

He hadn’t realized, or at least hadn’t noticed, just how sturdily built the shorter navigator was. The blond man’s shoulders weren’t quite as wide as his but they were probably close, proportionally, accounting for height. And he was definitely more muscled and just all around more tank-like than most of the slim little slips of men which made up Helios’ mind’s eye vision of the “average” navigator.

 _This is definitely going to be a competitive fight_ , he thought as he grunted from the exertion of staying upright. Selene and Deimos were really starting to get rough up there, hands locked on each other’s forearms, and it took considerable effort to counter their wildly swinging momentum.

Suddenly, Ethos and Selene tumbled over into the water, nearly taking the fighters with them.

“Ahh! Sorry Selene, I stepped in a dip in the sand or something,” said Ethos once they’d both surfaced again, blinking quickly to clear the saltwater from his eyes.

“It’s okay,” said Selene, but he didn’t sound particularly forgiving, “Rematch? Let’s have a rematch.”

“Sure, why not?” said Helios.

Once they’d moved to a new spot, far enough away from the apparently uneven bit of ocean floor, they tried again. It was just as much of a struggle, if not more. Selene’s drive to win seemed even stronger, and once or twice he nearly managed to push them over.

Helios felt Deimos’ foot tap his left side and shifted his weight accordingly. Using it as a counterbalance, Deimos gave one last big shove and Selene flew down into the surf again, though Ethos remained standing after some initial unsteadiness. Helios cheered in excitement over their uncontestable win, and felt Deimos’ fingers scritch through his hair happily.

After losing twice, Selene’s innate, almost lawyer-like sense of fair play and his argumentativeness flared up alongside his competitive streak.

“Well, it’s not really fair to pit two fighters with combat training against two navigators,” he said, arms crossed in front of his chest, “We should have considered that. Let’s split into fighter-navigator teams, instead, and see how that changes the dynamics.”

Ethos just stood there awkwardly as he listened to Selene’s complaints, but smiled when Deimos hopped off Helios’ shoulders and waded immediately over to him. Helios watched as Deimos leaned in to whisper in Ethos’ ear and tried not to let a sudden little pang of jealousy get the best of him.

Ethos nodded to his new teammate and said, “Okay, I’ll do my best.”

Selene shrugged and came over to meet Helios, smiling like he was the cat that got the cream. “I guess we’re just destined to work together.”

“Fine by me! Let’s do this!”

In the end, Ethos made good use of his and Deimos’ considerably lower center of gravity. He pushed in close and hunkered down with steady footing which let Deimos tilt Selene sideways, taking Helios with him as they crashed into the ocean.

“Argh! What happened, Helios? We should have won with our weight and height advantage!” said Selene as soon as he stopped spluttering.

Helios wiped the water out of his eyes and exchanged a glance with Deimos. The smaller fighter winked back at him from where he sat triumphant upon Ethos’ shoulders, the corners of his lips twitching upwards in a smile.

“Ha, well sometimes those things aren’t necessarily an advantage,” he said, trying to explain without making his navigator bristle any more, “Deimos probably drops me on my ass in sparring practice as least as often as I get him.”

“Hmm. I bet that’s not the only time he gets you to drop your ass,” Selene half-teased, a disgruntled edge to his voice still.

Ethos barked out a laugh at that, and immediately covered his mouth, blushing bright red. Deimos used the opportunity to clamber down again, which startled Ethos out of his embarrassment.

“Oh, high five, Deimos!” he said, holding up one hand and waiting until Deimos slapped it with a quizzical look, “You were awesome. Undefeated champ of chicken fighting!”

“How about a victory parade back to the towels for some celebratory popsicles? Or beer!” Helios suggested, “Selene, you want a beer?”

“Maybe later,” said his navigator, terse.

He smiled apologetically as he followed Deimos out of the shallows. Behind him he could hear Ethos’ soothing tone, murmuring to Selene. Probably better to leave him to cheering up duty than to accidentally stick his foot in it, Helios figured.

He watched Deimos from behind as they walked back along the beach. His petite frame just as taught and graceful as always, but Helios could have sworn there was a little less tension to the set of his shoulders. A little less wariness in the way he moved. He seemed awfully relaxed, considering the unfamiliar location. Deimos cast a look back over his shoulder as if he knew Helios was purposefully lagging behind him.

Lengthening his stride, he caught up just before they reached the spot they’d all set up in for the day. Grabbing the small cooler out from under a towel in the shade, Helios opened it up and spun it around to give Deimos his pick of refreshments. The smaller man didn’t take long to decide before reaching in to retrieve one of the long, ridged, tri-coloured popsicles which Ethos had informed them were known as “rocket pops”. He found that kind of funny, because they looked nothing like actual rockets, but grabbed one as well. Placing it still in its wrapper on top of the cooler lid, he toweled off a little before settling down next to Deimos.

They sat in companionable silence, the only sound made by their mouths sucking on the icy treats. Some of the slurps sounded a little obscene, and Helios found himself avoiding watching Deimos work on eating the rather phallic bit of frozen sugar water. Seeing his lips wrapped around it was just a little too exciting, so instead Helios stared out at the water, still awed by the beauty of Earth.

It wasn’t long before Selene and Ethos came to join them again, walking up hand in hand. Selene went straight for a beer from the cooler while Ethos grabbed the little sand shovels they’d used to build a castle earlier. Helios watched in curiosity as the blond navigator began to dig, and dig. Selene set his beer down and picked up another shovel and joined in.

By the time they’d finished their popsicles, the navigators had made a shallow indentation in the ground, big enough that someone could lie down in it.

“Jeez Selene, it was just a game. Do you really have to dig our graves right in front of us?”

Helios’s navigator shot him an unamused look.

“Sorry,” he said, realizing the joke hadn’t landed the way he’d hoped.

Soon all was revealed as Ethos lay down in the hollow and Selene began tossing sand over his body.

“Want to help? Grab the other shovel!” said Selene, pointing at the plastic tool Ethos had discarded.

Taking this as a peace offering, Helios grabbed it and began to toss sand as well. Between the two of them, it wasn’t long before Ethos’ pale chest and bright turquoise swim trunks were almost entirely obscured. Deimos helped as well, pushing piles of previously dug up sand carefully over to fill in the space around the very top of the other man’s upper body.

Once they’d successfully submerged him in the beach, save for his head, Selene crowned it with a bucket. The blond navigator looked absolutely ridiculous, but he was wearing such a big smile that his freckled cheeks reached upwards as if trying to meet the rim of the green plastic container. Helios laughed at the sight.

“So what’s the point of being buried like that?”

Ethos shrugged, the slightly damp sand covering him cracking and shifting around his hidden shoulders.

“It’s just something to do at the beach,” Selene answered.

“It feels kind of cool,” Ethos added, “Like being under a really heavy blanket or something. Pressure from all sides.”

 _I wonder if it’s like getting hugged all over at once?_ Helios thought to himself, _That would be pretty nice._

“Do you want to try it, Helios?” asked Ethos, breaking free from his sand prison like one of the monsters from old sci-fi movies. The bucket toppled off his head with the effort and rolled a short distance away. He was absolutely covered in sand—it looked itchy.

“Maybe tomorrow,” said Helios, intrigued but uncertain.

“Deimos?”

The smaller fighter just shook his head, expression unimpressed at even being asked.

“Okay!” Ethos bounded over to where Selene was digging through his beach bag and grabbed him from behind with a playful roar.

“Oh no, stop it! Why would you do that?” shrieked Selene around peels of laughter, “You’re awful! There’s sand _everywhere_!”

Helios watched with a smile as his navigator squirmed in Ethos’ iron-grip, giggling and lightly slapping at the other man’s arms, apparently trying to get free. Though somehow Helios got the impression that he wasn’t trying very hard. All he succeeding in doing was spinning around so they ended up front-to-front.

“Ethoooss! I _just_ put on my shirt and now I have to wash off again!”

“You’re right, we’re both filthy,” said Ethos, tone mischievous, “I guess it’s back in the water with us.” He hoisted Selene up against him.

“Aaaa!” Selene exclaimed, momentarily shocked.

Then his long limbs started to flail about in protest of being carried towards the ocean again. Their motions of dissent belied by the way Selene also clutched at his boyfriend’s shoulders and laughed. More carefree than Helios had ever heard him, he thought.

He sat back next to Deimos and leaned over.

“Looks kind of like fun,” he said in a low, suggestive voice, continuing to watch as Ethos tipped sideways once he’d gotten deep enough in the ocean, sending both navigators splashing into it.

Deimos didn’t look at him, but the length of the response he gave under his breath stressed how serious he was.

“Carry me into the water and I’ll stab you in your sleep.”

“Ha ha, I was thinking more back up to the room,” replied Helios, daring to sneak one arm around Deimos’ back.

When it didn’t get wrenched into an uncomfortable position, he took it as an invitation. He scooped up the smaller man and deposited him on his lap so they were face to face, Deimos even looking down on him slightly from the higher position. Helios titled his head back a bit to look up into gorgeous, pale blue-grey eyes.

He lifted his hand from the towel—rubbing a little caked sand off on himself—then used it to brush aside the sweep of dark bangs that mostly hid one of those eyes. Leaning forward, he brushed his lips against Deimos’ softly. The other fighter was the one who pressed back, turning the motion into a proper kiss.

Their mouths interlocked and pulled apart a few times, movements lazy like the afternoon around them. Deimos’ lips tasted of artificial fruit flavours and sea spray; good enough to eat.

As they kissed, Helios closed his eyes. Everything was salty air, the distant sound of gulls crying, heat beating down around them and coming up from the sandy ground again. A rogue water droplet ran down from his damp hair and traversed the short, sensitive ones along the back of his scalp, making him shiver a little as it made its way between his shoulder blades along the curve of his spine. The warmth and weight of Deimos on top of him felt so good, here in this idyllic place, far from the stress of war and military routine.

He was so glad they’d decided to spend their shore leave together. To discover that there was more between them than just the convenience of being stationed on the same ship. That things didn’t immediately fall apart or feel wrong outside of that environment. That, if anything, kissing him here, like this, made Helios want more of it; to learn more about him and spend more time together.

It was distracting enough that he barely registered the noise of the other two men only a hundred meters away or so.

“Look what you’ve done! Now I’m soaking wet!”

“Mmmm, maybe you’ll win a wet t-shirt contest? I’d vote for you.”

“You’re incorrigible. And I didn’t bring another shirt down with me!”

“You can have mine if you stay to swim with me a little longer.”

“I guess I can live with that. Getting to see you shirtless all day long is a good start on your apology.”

The flirty, teasing conversation just faded into the background with the lapping of waves on sand and the light breeze whistling past, ruffling the fabric of their big umbrella.

The only thing he needed to focus on was the man in his lap. The beautiful, amazing, perfect man he held in his arms.

The thin, still damp fabric of their bathing suits made their bodies cling together in a way that seemed even more obscene than if they’d been fully naked. He could feel the distinct outline of each of Deimos’ perfect little ass cheeks grinding down on him, and his body was already starting to respond.

Even though the beach was fairly deserted save for the other two men they’d come with, Helios felt his cheeks heat at how public the area was. Anyone could just come walking down from one of the vacation houses at any time and see them. The thought didn’t help calm what was happening below his waist—if anything it inflamed the problem.

After a few more deep, searching kisses, Helios forced himself to separate his mouth from Deimos’.

“Uh, we should really go to the room before someone tells us to get a room.”

The tiniest smirk crossed the other fighter’s face. Even that barely suggestive action was enough to make his dick twitch up against Deimos’ ass, getting a more devious expression in response.

Helios couldn’t imagine a better first day at the beach.

END

**Author's Note:**

> Image of a [rocket pop](https://smokeoutsolutions.com/image/cache/catalog/rocketpopsicle-600x860.jpg) for anyone who isn't familiar with them. Also known as firecrackers/firework/bomb pops. A childhood summer staple, at least where I grew up.


End file.
